About two years ago while I was on the hunt to try different Dark beers and Porter Ales, I came across Croucher Brewing Company’s Patriot, American Black Ale, brewed in Rotorua.
It was exactly the sort of Oddity that I was looking to try.
At nearly $10 for 500mls it was on the pricey side, yet in the name of Beer Science and culture I decided to give it a crack.
Beer Miester Tim Wikiriwhi at work in the field.
It was very different to any other Black beer I had ever tasted!
Quite shockingly strong on the Hoppiness…something I have never really enjoyed and one of the reasons I prefer Porter ales… yet after a few glasses I was quite enthralled with *this* sort of Hopps!
It actually converted me to the Idea that I should be experimenting more with hopps in my VonTempsky Heroic Ales …homebrew, and though after several ‘fails’…. Batches I will not be repeating, I still cant help but love this Patriot American Black Ale and wish I could figure out how to get some of that magic into my own brews.
I rank this Beer very highly.
I have also found out via Croucher’s Face book page that they also Brew an ‘Ethiopian Coffee Stout’ which has gone on tap at Galbraith’s Alehouse Auckland!
As I am a Fan Of Coffee Porters, and Brew my own, I cant wait to get my grubby hands on a few Bottles of this Coffee Stout!
When I do I will report!
Coffee Porters Keep very well.
I am drinking some I brewed about two years ago and still tastes great!
I brew up a very very ‘expresso’ strength jug of Maccona and put a shot glass full in each 750ml bottle before filling with my Porter brew.
That works very well.
See my Home brew Face Book Page for VonTempsky’s heroic Ales Here:
I immediately assumed that the rioters were Muslims, so I searched the page for the terms ‘Muslim’ and ‘Islam’. No results. So I Googled for another link.
Again, I searched the page for the terms ‘Muslim’ and ‘Islam’. Again, no results. So, who are the rioters?
I live in New Zealand. My family emigrated here from England when I was 11 years old. I work with Chinese people. I blog with a Maori. My local MP is a Pacific Islander. It’s all good.
Just a few of the vested interests in mantaining Hysteria and the Drug war.
What is the definition of Stupidity?
It’s when someone keeps doing the exactly the Same thing over and over and yet expecting different results!
Question: Has Cannabis prohibition succeeded in keeping Pot off the Streets?
Think hard about this….
The Stats actually prove that Prohibition doe’s absolutely *Nothing* to prevent Cannabis use!
The reality is over 50% of Kiwi’s have ignored the prohibitions and smoked Pot, and the rest simply don’t want to!
Thus the Law does *Zero* to halt drug use, and in fact the stats show that prohibition actually makes our schools etc less safe because of the Criminal monopoly… and vendors who have less scruples about who they sell their drugs to than Legitimate regulated traders.
This is simply a repeat of the failed BZP Prohibition which was only a success… for the Gangs and P dealers!
The truth is the BZP Ban removed a cheaper, and safer alternative to P (Meth amphetamine) …an alternative which many hundreds of Drug users were taking advantage of and thus depriving Criminal organisations of millions of Dollars, and helping the recreational drug user to stay out of trouble with the Law and reducing the negative impact of their drug habits upon their Families… esp in relation to Paying the rent, Putting food on the table, and warm clothing in winter… the Illegal market cost of drugs being astronomical… *while demand remains unchanged.*
People Love to do Drugs!
Alcohol is a Drug!… Of Course the A-Dealers (Alcohol) love these prohibitions too… and you wonder why NZ has a Culture of excessive Drinking and drink related violence and crime!
Yet the Populist politicians and Media never mention these sorts of factors… they pretend they don’t exist.
They continue to maintain the lie that such Nanny State Prohibitions ‘make our communities safer’, and yet no one considers the reality that having Legal sales of drugs actually ‘makes our communities safer!’ and that Prohibition not only works to finance criminal Gangs and results in Underworld crimes between rival gangs, Home invasions trying to steel drugs, Murder and violence when deals go bad, etc etc… it also means more young people end up ‘associating’ with criminal Gangs from whom they buy their drugs.
And this refusal to think through all these negative consequences of ‘the war on drugs’ also panders to the willful bigotry and fear of the Sheeple… whom love tyranny… in the name of oppressing their ‘Jews’… ie the unpopular minorities they have demonized.
Then they wonder why their Teenage sons and daughters don’t want anything to do with them!
Then they blame ‘the drugs’ when their adult Children end up in court and jail on Drug offences!
They never consciously admit to themselves that it is their own bigotry which has now alienated them from their Adult Teenage Kids and has destroyed their lives by allowing the state to take away their rights and liberties, to criminalize them and oppress them!
This is how the Stupidity is perpetuated…
Tyranny is far more harmful to our society than the recreational drugs they fail to control.
What the Government ought to do is simply put an R18 restriction on sales of Party pills and synthetic Cannabis, giving the Dairy owners an incentive to only sell such products to adults.
The also should Legalise Cannabis, and BZP, and Nos!
The “Religion of Peace” has struck again in a barbaric execution on a busy London street in broad daylight.
To prevent this from happening again we must consider root causes. What are they?
Easy question to answer!
(1) Islam
(2) Blowback
Or in the perpetrator’s own words
The only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers. And this British soldier is one, it is eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
By Allah, we swear by the almighty Allah, we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone.
So what if we want to live by the Sharia in Muslim lands, why does that mean you must kill us and chase us … in suicide, kill us?
Rather, you are extreme. When you drop a bomb do you think it kills one person or, rather, your bomb wipes out a whole family? This is the reality.
And by the way, if I saw your mother today with a buggy I would help her up the stairs. This is my nature.
But we are forced by the Koran […] Many, many ayah throughout the Koran [say that] we must fight them as they fight us, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
I apologise that women had to witness this today, but in our lands our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe.
Remove your government, they don’t care about you. You think David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start busting our guns? You think your politicians are going to die? No it’s going to be the average guy, like you, and your children. So get rid of them. Tell them to bring our troops back so we can … you can all live in peace. Leave our lands and you will live in peace.
That’s all I have to say.
I have two suggestions for the West.
(1) We put a moratorium on Muslim immigration until further notice.
(2) We withdraw all troops from Muslim lands.
Coopers Best extra Stout… having been recommended this Auzzy Stout by an Eternal Vigilante… my team of Highly experienced Analysts and affectionados are putting this Brew through strenuous scientific tests…. using the most Flash Gear.
The result will indisputably… conclusively…. Unquestionably be the most Clinical, Objective, Authorotive, and up to date evaluation of any Beer ever!
Here it comes…. ditditditditditditdit….ditdit… My assistant Borek has just handed me the printout…
All Righty Then!
Now This Beer comes in a Manly sized 750ml bottle! It gets a big tick for that.
It was on special at the best Beer outlet on either side of the Mighty Waikato…West Hamilton’s New World Te Rapa… for less than $6, normally about $6.50 which is still ‘Crickey Dick’ Cheep…. esp for a 6.3% Brew! …another two big ticks there!
And as for the taste???? ???? ????
Not Bad! Surprisingly Drinkable!
It’s not as nice as the Renaissance Elemental Porter I had the other night, or as nice as the Pitch Black Stout on Tap at the House Bar on Hood st Hamilton, or as nice as Geeks Cocoanut Porter ale, or as nice as a Boundary Rd’s Chocolate Porter… but still Its very Good.
What is very nice is the kick! 😀
Tie Me Kangaroo down Sport! Coopers Best Extra Stout Redeems Auzzy piss somewhat!
At that Price… It’s Bloody Good, and I am Stoked that I gave it a try!
It’s a winner.
Chur Bro! (Mark) 😀
Should soft drugs (cannabis & synthetic cannabinoids) be decriminalised? YES or NO?
You can vote YES tonight (Wednesday 22 May) between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm on The Vote.
Watch the sane, sensible Regulators (Ross Bell, Grant Hall, Jeremy McMinn) smoke the rabid, disinformed Prohibitionists (Janie Annear, Mike Sabin, Wayne Poutoa) tonight at 8.30 pm on TV3.
Before I became a Christian… in the late 80’s I believed in the Doors!
I used to roll… 100mph… in my Doorsmobile…a white Valiant Ranger 245 Hemi… with a Doors Badge in the Grill which had I cut out of 16mm thick Aluminum plate and painted Red.
I never Got tired of getting high and listening to the Doors, or Pink Floyd!
Ray Manzarek’s Keyboard put the ‘trippy-ness’ into the Doors sound.
He was one of the very best…ever!
The Door’s (of Perception) music is a Religion… Hedonistic, Mystical, Nihilism,… all mixed together… ‘Break on through to the other side!, ‘The Crystal ship’…
A word of warning to you young-uns….
You gotta be real careful who you Idolise!
Worshipping people like Jim Morison can put you in an Early Grave!
Dead is a Bath by 28.
I guess we young guys easily fall for that sort of thing to fill the black void… that mystery and enptiness which consumes the lost soul… wandering wandering in hopeless Night.
Out here on the perimeter there are no Stars.
Out here We is Stoned Immaculate.
I really hope Ray found out Life and reality are so much more that that…
It’s quite staggering to realise that millions of souls dont find any deeper meaning or value…
Yet again I question thus… Were the Drugs and Doors music really that bad for me… as all the Condescending wonkers like to assume?
I sometimes think that these things actually helped me in my quest for truth and that they were an essential part of my ‘mind expanding enlightenment’ which eventually led me out of atheism and into Faith in Christ.
Smoking a lot of Pot and listening to music like the Doors also meant I spent a lot of time meditating on the meaning of Life… They made me wonder if there was something more to life than mere materialism?
And Drugs and the Doors also (ironically) kept depression and suicidal thoughts to a minimum as being a lost soul is truly a frightening thing… and so the fact that the Drugs and the Doors gave me relief and stimulated Contemplation about reality makes me think they actually played a roll in saving my life and helped steer me towards belief in the Spirituality of existence… they got me started on my pilgrimage. 🙂
I Owe a debt of gratitude to Ray, Jimmy, John, and Robbie for that.
Along with other Great Muso’s, Their Art enriched my life.
I think this ‘apparant contradiction’ is very valid… It all depend’s on the Individual’s desire to know the truth rather than hide from it.
‘The End’
This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never look into your eyes…again
Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need…of some…stranger’s hand
In a…desperate land
Lost in a Roman…wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah
There’s danger on the edge of town
Ride the King’s highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby
Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake…he’s old, and his skin is cold…
You can spread the flu to people, including your family/whanau and friends, who are at most risk of complications
While general health affects the severity of an infection, the influenza virus is contagious and anyone can become infected.
Influenza is more than just a ‘bad cold’. Although some of the symptoms are the same, influenza is usually much more severe. Symptoms of influenza include a cough, headache, fever or chills, body aches and pains, fatigue and generally feeling miserable
Influenza, commonly called the flu, can be a serious illness that is sometimes fatal.
Even if you do not end up in hospital, influenza can keep you in bed for a week or more, preventing you from doing work, sport or just about anything that requires leaving the house.
The flu spreads from person to person. The influenza virus is transferred in droplets of moisture expelled through breathing, coughing and sneezing. The virus is spread when a person touches any droplets which contain the influenza virus and then touch their mouth, nose or eyes before washing their hands.
Influenza can infect up to 1 in 5 of us every year.
Influenza can affect anyone, no matter how fit, active and healthy they may be. Although people with underlying health conditions are most at risk from influenza associated complications, previously healthy people can still become seriously ill an even die.
Approximately 400 deaths each year in New Zealand are related to influenza infection.
We cannot predict from year to year how severe the influenza season may be. The flu virus can change yearly and new strains can emerge to which people are not immune.
To maintain the most effective protection against influenza, annual immunisation is required.
protection lessens over time
each year influenza can be caused by different strains of influenza viruses that are not represented in the previous year’s vaccine
It takes around two weeks to develop immunity once vaccinated. Ideally, immunisation should be carried out before the main influenza activity in May to September. People can be immunised at any time during the influenza season, but the vaccine is only free for those in the high-risk groups until the end of July.
Seasonal influenza vaccinations are recognised as being the single most effective way of reducing the impact of seasonal influenza – especially for those most at risk of complications.
Stop the spread of the flu
If you are unwell, stay at home until you are better.
Follow basic hygiene practices:
Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds and dry them for 20 seconds – or use an alcohol-based hand rub
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze – then put the tissue in a lined bin
Cough or sneeze in to your elbow if a tissue is not readily available
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
Don’t share drinks
Avoid crowded places
Don’t let the flu knock you. Get immunised. Protect yourself. Protect your family. Protect your community.
Immunisation may be FREE for you. Ask your doctor or nurse today.
This season’s ‘flu’ could be worse because of the new influenza virus commonly known as Swine Flu.
What a fine drop this is!!!!
6% too! 😀
Take note Richard G of the statement below!
esp… “Beer of Choice”…. “a supprising effective accompaniment for Dark chocolate, coffee,…”
Elemental is our most awarded beer, it has won gold medals in Australia and New Zealand and for a time it was rated New Zealand’s top beer, no mean feat for a porter of moderate alcohol and a balanced finish.
Originally the beer of choice for workers in London’s produce markets, the beer was a mixture of the previous nights slops that the “porters” would drink when they clocked off at dawn. Porter is also Andy’s all time favourite beer style. Brewed in the modern ‘robust’ style, Elemental Porter is a rich, full bodied brew with plenty of dry, dark chocolate and roasty malt flavours which gradually give way to a cleansing hop-driven finish.
Not intuitively thought of as as a food beer it is a surprisingly effective accompaniment for:
•Dark chocolate
•Coffee or berry-based desserts
•Blue cheese
•Barbecued meats
And although historically it was a sunrise beer, we think nowadays it is probably more suited to an be served after dinner with desserts and cheese, although if you want to drink it at day break, we’re not going to stop you.
Cheers!
Andy and Brian
^^^^quote is from here: http://www.renaissancebrewing.co.nz/content/elemental-porter-ale-craft-beer.html
Grunge Miester Tim Wikiriwhi Queenstown Motorcamp. New Years Day 1999.
That’s a Montieths Black… Porter Ale! …. actually may be a Black Mac. 🙂
My Fav beer for 20 odd years has been Waikato Draught, yet that was notoriously hard to get on the Mainland, and so on that ‘mission’ I was buyin up Montieths Black (you can get it by the Jug down there!) and also swillin Black Macs.
That bottle looks more like a Mac one than a Montieths.
And for the record both Black Montieths and Black Macs are bloody good ales!
Despite being bought out by Big Brewers…
I present that quote from Renaissance Brewing as evidence against previous remarks by my fellow blogger… re My endorsement of both Porter Ale and in particular Boundary Road Chocolate Porter Ale.
